Huddled beneath the umbrella of artificial chemicals and smog called a "solution" by all that are fortunate to live there sat the metropolis. A city that comically looked like someone had just given up on their game of Tetris. Buildings so tall and thin they appeared to be teetering if one had them in their peripheral. The entire structure appeared as if it detested the very ground it was built upon. An odd city, but one built the only way it could succeed.
It was a dry, gray and underwhelming day in New Dawn, like all others. The unchanging weather had never really helped those that lived there cheer up.
Through one of the many tightly packed three-dimensional roads Mr. Spero rushed. like an ant, through a tunnel, he weaved in and out of ridiculous structures and took fantastical curves that seemed to just to ignore the very notion of motion. This was in stark contrast to how the portly man was engaged in the situation. He had his feet up on his dashboard and was reading the latest news of the bureaucratic bumblings going on by those supposedly in charge of his life.
"Bloody world can end and these fools will still be at it!" He said while chuckling.
His laugh came to an end as his personal shuttle had to slam on the breaks, sending his head forward into the rapidly expanding airbag. This wouldn't be so bad if not for the tablet in his hand being forced into his face. While the smart airbag didn't crumple his spine like an accordion it did leave a massive imprint on the bridge of his nose.
Spero sat there in shock for about as long as the airbag took to retreat back into his former footrest. With tears in his eyes and a potentially broken nose the man went from fear to panic, to confusion, and finally, to anger.
"Open the door." The small man said slowly, talking to the air inside his small shuttle.
"As this tunnel is unsupported by any repair committee or council and as such it will be near freezing, it's reco-" Before the ice cold mechanically female voice could finish he butted in.
"Open the door." The man said again, voice slightly cracking as he held his now broken tablet in his palm.
The shuttle doors slid open, letting in the stale and processed atmosphere of the indiscript transport lane.
Stepping out into the frigid new environment he looked around briefly and his eyes settled on a nearby silhouette. He strolled forward, in complete silence, the tunnel becoming devoid of any perceivable sound now that the shuttle had fully stopped. The cold metal beneath the feet of the rotund man deforming slightly as he moved forward. It made not a peep as it popped back into place behind him. He stalked forward and in a deceivingly short amount of time appeared behind the shadow that'd caused his shuttle to slam on the breaks.
"So listen here you little shit, you think this is funny? DO YOU KNOW WHA-" Mid rant he spun the device around only to come face to face with something far worse than he'd hoped.
Inside the rectangular box, he'd expected to find a scrambler, the type that teenagers have been leaving around in tunnels like this to mess with the autopilot on transport of all kinds. Instead of an indistinct panel of lights and switches he came face to face with an infant. The most shocking thing about this situation is not the fact that someone decided this to be the most appropriate daycare for this child, but rather the remarkable shade of purple the huddled infant donned.
"t…" The man's tirade terminated tightly as he realized he was berating what could potentially be a very small corpse. Grimacing he reached forward and put his index finger on the neck of the child. His shocked expression dropped further as he felt no pulse from the body.
He went to take his hand back, but before he got the chance the small child shudders before going still again.
With the weight of the situation finally sinking in he ran back to his shuttle with enough kinetic energy to make a howitzer jealous.
The man slammed against the door of his vehicle and with a voice that pierced the thick concrete and metal walls around him yelled for help, "CALL THE MEDICAL UNIT!!!"
He wasted no time in getting in his shuttle and when he did he assessed the in-vehicle com. Dialing that ever-present 911 he panted as the call was being processed.
"You appear to be in distre-" Once again the robotic yet feminine voice pipes up only to be silenced by the sharp reply of the man.
"Shut up, now." Not disguising the seething rage he felt towards this machine he spat these three words out with enough venom to kill an elephant.
"You have been deducted thirty social credits for a negative attitude, if you have an issue with this then please consult the-" For the third time in two minutes, the voice was silenced as a dispatcher picked up on the other end of the call.
"Police speaking what is your emergency?" Says a voice seemingly urgent but still strictly calm.
"There's an abandoned child here, it's almost frozen solid and I don't know how long it can last." Shooting those words out his mouth he continues before the dispatcher can even process what he'd just said.
"The child is is in a carrier on the corner of Abstruse Avenue I'm going to see what I can do." He rushed those words out before hanging up and lept out of his car.
Returning to the side of the child he picked it up from the carrier as if it were the most expensive of China. Holding the infant close to his chest he sat down against a vacant office and sat there as a crowd gathered.
Blood dripping down his face he looks down at the infant which had started shivering. Smiling he looked up at the people around him.
Meeting the gaze of one of the people who'd congregated he asked, "is anyone here a doctor?"
The people in the surrounding either looked away or shook their heads.
After about five minutes of dead silence between the snapping of camera flashes the peace was broken by the sound of a police siren in the distance, echoing through the decrepit surroundings.
As the police officer approached in the cruiser the infant started to softly cry. Wobbling to his feet the man approached the now stopped police cruiser and waved.
"Can I get a ride?" Spero asked the officer, deadpan and paled.
Opening the passenger side door the nondescript officer waited for him to sit down, closed the door and sped off.
After a while of nothing but the hum of antigrav, Spero felt lightheaded and ultimately passed out, blood spewing out of his nose and into his lap. The infant still tightly clutched in his grasp.